A young seminarian directed me to these words by Søren Kierkegaard …
Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is dreadful to even be alone with the New Testament.
We often talk of the Jesus Way as if it is the ‘best life ever’ or a glorious and happy everafter. When in fact the call of God is a call to take up a cross and follow him to death and the words of Scriptures are instructions in how to live according to a different kingdom. The Jesus Way is a dreadful way, because it runs counter to my hopes of success, self-gratification, consumption, and advancement. And yet, if this dread is only theoretical talk or for the radical fringe, then Christianity is truly just another religious way with teachings and a moral code. Rather, my expereince is that when I fall into the hands of the living God and seek to live according to his kingdom, I mourn the death of my hopes and my ways, but I also rise to a new hope and new ways. Dread is prelude to becoming a transformed person with new and true hope.
By acknowledging this and writing these words, I do not escape the harsh reality of what falling into the hands of the living God will do to my appetites, habits, attitudes, comfortable lifestyle, and pet sins. The way in which Jesus calls me to walk demands that I do more than understand it or write about it. I must personally know and walk in its dreadfulness, if I am to live in its hope.